Corporate Affiliate Conflicts of Interest - Louisville Bar Association

LSC Board to Visit Louisville, Observe Legal Aid’s Innovative Programs
Jeffrey A. Been
On Monday, October 18, the Legal Services
Corporation will honor the following
law firm and individual from the Louisville
region:
Wyatt, Tarrant &
Combs
LSC recognizes
the Wyatt firm for its extraordinary commitment
and support of the Legal Aid Society.
The Wyatt firm has a long tradition of
pro bono service and in 2005 established
the Wyatt Fellowship. This Fellowship
pays for a full-time attorney at Legal Aid
to help victims of domestic violence.
Marshall P. Eldred
LSC also recognizes
Marshall P. Eldred’s
service to the low-income
client community
through more than 43
years of devoted service
on the Legal Aid Society
board. Eldred has served as chair of
the board for two terms and has chaired
numerous committees during his service
on Legal Aid’s board. His past awards and
honors include The Best Lawyers in America
2003–2011; Kentucky Super Lawyers
2008–2010; 2007 Kentucky Bar Association
Donated Legal Services Award,
and Chambers USA 2005, 2008–2010.
Eldred is one of the founding partners of
Frost Brown Todd. •
The Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation
(LSC) will be visiting Louisville on October 17–19 to
conduct its quarterly board meeting and to learn more
about the programs and services of the Legal Aid Society.
This is the first visit to Kentucky by the LSC board since LSC
was created in 1974. This visit provides the Legal Aid Society
an opportunity to showcase our innovative programming
and share with members of this national board the impact
of Legal Aid’s advocacy on behalf of low-income clients in
our community.
The LSC was created in 1974 to promote equal access to justice
and provide grants for high quality civil legal assistance to
low-income Americans. LSC distributes more than 95 percent
of its total funding to 136 independent non-profit legal aid
programs throughout the nation. LSC encourages programs
to leverage limited resources by partnering and collaborating
with other funders of civil legal aid, including state and
local governments, access
to justice commissions, the
private bar, philanthropic
foundations and the local
business community.
LSC is governed by a bipartisan
board of directors
whose 11 members are appointed
by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Local
attorney, Victor B. Maddox was appointed to the LSC board
in March 2010. Maddox is a partner in the Louisville law firm
of Fultz Maddox Hovious & Dickens, where he is responsible
for a broad range of trial, arbitration and appellate matters
involving constitutional and public policy law and commercial
and business litigation.
Maddox notes, “Each year, the LSC board selects only three
programs from across the country to visit. At these visits, the
board gains valuable insights into the regional needs of the
low-income client community and how programs are effectively
responding to these needs. The board has an opportunity to
learn of new practices a program may be implementing, while
looking for areas to improve and for innovations to share with
grantees across the country. I know our Board will have much
to learn from the Louisville Legal Aid Society. It is a great
opportunity to shine the spotlight on what this community is
able to achieve through its strong partnerships.”
“Each year, the LSC board selects only three programs
from across the country to visit… I know our board will
have much to learn from the Louisville Legal Aid Society.”
–Victor B. Maddox, LSC board member
In recent years, the Legal Aid Society has implemented many new
programs that serve targeted populations such as victims of domestic
violence, grandparents raising grandchildren and homeowners facing
foreclosure. It recently established the Kentucky Corps of Advocates
for Veterans program (KCAV) to connect low-income veterans or
individuals with a military connection to free legal resources to help
them resolve civil legal problems.
The KCAV is a good demonstration project of what a legal aid program
can do with both federal and local support. With initial funding from
LSC’s Technology Innovation Grants, Legal Aid Society collaborated
with veteran service organizations, the private bar and the Kentucky
Department of Veterans’ Affairs to develop the program which provides
veterans with resources and connects them to programs that
can help via websites and online intake systems.
With funding from the Louisville Bar Foundation, the Legal Aid Sociey
expanded this vision to provide veterans with direct legal assistance,
and to recruit and train volunteers to help veterans resolve general
civil problems or VA specific issues.
Legal Aid Society is one of only four
programs nationally to have received
LSC funding for this purpose and is
the only one that has since leveraged
additional resources with which to
expand services.
In addition to observing Legal Aid Society’s
operations, and conducting its own board meeting and separate
meetings of the board’s various committees, the LSC board will host
a reception in which it will recognize and honor eight individuals or
law firms who have made significant contributions to the delivery of
legal services in Kentucky.
The services of Legal Aid have never been more critical. With an
economy spiraling downward and unemployment exceeding ten
percent, Legal Aid is there to help those who cannot help themselves.
The work of Legal Aid is vital to our community by ensuring that all
people, regardless of their means, have access to
justice. We look forward to welcoming the LSC
board and recognizing those in our community
who have made a significant difference for those
less fortunate.
Jeffrey A. Been is the executive director of the Legal
Aid Society. To share your thoughts or to learn more
about the LSC and Legal Aid Society, you may contact
him at jbeen@laslou.org or (502) 614-3100. •
Family Law Mediation and
Alternate Dispute Resolution
Judge Richard FitzGerald (ret)
(502) 895-4583
(502) 727-1350
e-mail: FitzMediation@aol.com
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